- Level
- Mixed
- Basic and Premium Members Prices
- Premium Members $30 & Basic Member $40
Register by December 25th and save $5, use code MYSTERYJOHNSON2024 at checkout!
- Category
- Description/Setting
- Structure
- Genre
- Worldbuilding
- $5 off Early Registration Coupon-expires 1 week before class starts
- MYSTERYJOHNSON2024
- Class Length
- 4 Weeks
Whether you’re writing a cozy or a psychological thriller, worldbuilding is essential. After all, if your audience can’t visualize your protagonist’s plight, they’ll lose sight of your plot. Unfortunately, many writers consider clever settings the sole province of fantasy authors—and while it is true that genre can influence which fantastical location you choose—that chosen setting is actually the unifying element for the literary techniques you’ll use to craft your next novel (regardless of genre).
So with worldbuilding in mind, this course is specifically designed to get MYSTERY WRITERS thinking about setting in a much more comprehensive manner. We want to create rich environments that not only bring together major elements like characters and conflict but also delves into the nuanced elements of storytelling such as mood, tone, tension, and suspense. We’ll also discuss how to make fictional spaces (and very real places) become emotionally powerful locales that your readers will want to visit again and again.
This course is a must-have for any writer who needs assistance selecting and building the best setting for their crime, cozy, or killer suspense tale.
So with worldbuilding in mind, this course is specifically designed to get MYSTERY WRITERS thinking about setting in a much more comprehensive manner. We want to create rich environments that not only bring together major elements like characters and conflict but also delves into the nuanced elements of storytelling such as mood, tone, tension, and suspense. We’ll also discuss how to make fictional spaces (and very real places) become emotionally powerful locales that your readers will want to visit again and again.
This course is a must-have for any writer who needs assistance selecting and building the best setting for their crime, cozy, or killer suspense tale.
- Syllabus
- Week 1: What is Setting? Why Are Settings Vital to Mystery and Suspense?
• Introductions
• Stellar Settings: Literary Examples
• Setting as Milieu
Week 2: The Power and Purpose of a Mystery Setting
• Setting as Time and Place
• Setting as Clues and Foreshadowing
• Setting as Character
Week 3: Using Setting to Hook Your Reader
• Setting as Motivation and Emotion
• Setting as Conflict
• Setting as Tension and Suspense
Week 4: Plotting Your Setting
• Setting as Plot
• How to Choose Your Mystery Setting - Questions to Consider
• Mystery Setting Do’s & Don’ts – Killer Takeaways
• What next?
*This is a four-week course with twelve lessons that will arrive on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week. This class includes exercises to reinforce learning, and the instructor will provide feedback to students as desired throughout the thirty-day period. However, the assignments will not be mandatory so that students are free to work at their own pace.
- Class Format
- Savvy Authors' workshops are held on a forum: a bulletin board based system. You will receive a reminder notice one day prior to the start of the workshop that includes instructions on how to access the workshop forum. If you have not received instructions by the day the workshop begins, please check your spam filter.
The forum will be available the morning (EST) of the day the workshop starts and will remain accessible to all participants thereafter. You will also be given simple instructions on how to create a PDF of all your discussions along with our privacy and data retention policy.
